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About 200 people were forced from their apartments in a Toronto highrise after an electrical fire tore through part of the building late Tuesday night.
Lorne Buckingham, Toronto Fire Services division commander, said firefighters responded around 11:40 p.m. to the blaze, which spread through the electrical wiring of the Cosburn Avenue building in East York, causing heavy smoke to fill the hallways.
Some residents stayed inside and waited on balconies for firefighters to bring respirators and assist them to the exits, CBC's Tony Smyth reported from the scene. Power was cut to the building.
No one was injured in the fire, Buckingham said.
Tessie Knapp, who lives on the second floor of the building, said she heard a fire alarm just before going to bed. She couldn't smell smoke, but said she could hear people banging on their neighbours' doors in the hallway.
Knapp left her apartment with her son, leaving her two cats behind.
"I don't know what I'm going to do yet. I'm freezing here," she said.
City officials helped set up temporary housing for residents forced out of the building, Buckingham said. He said he didn't know how long they would be out of their homes.
"These events can stretch for a lengthy time," Buckingham said. "If the wiring inside the building has been burnt, then it all has to be taken out, new wires put in, it could drag on a little bit. We really don't know the extent of the damage."
The highrise residents will likely to be out of their homes until the electrical system is fixed and the hydro is turned back on, Buckingham said.
The TTC sent four buses to the scene to provide temporary shelter and warmth for those who were forced out of their homes.
